Japanese

なんばんほくてき
Meaning: foreign barbarians
Part of Speech: Noun, Four-character idiom

Listen to pronunciation

Handwriting

南
蛮
北
狄

Example

In history, there were people who were called foreign barbarians.

Usage Notes

A historical term used by Chinese to refer to non-Chinese peoples to both north and south. Now mainly used in historical contexts or literary references.

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